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Dar Essalam serves up innovative Moroccan food.
Keep your diet in check at Dar Essalam, a local restaurant with gluten-free and low-fat menu items.
You won't need to get a sitter before heading to Dar Essalam — kids are more than welcome at this family-friendly establishment.
Parties of any size can easily be seated at Dar Essalam.
Wear what you like when you dine at Dar Essalam — the restaurant has a chill vibe just right for casual dining.
You can also grab your food to go.
If you need to feed a big crowd, Dar Essalam also offers catering services for parties and get-togethers.
The restaurant is adjacent to a parking lot, where optional valet is also provided. Street parking is readily available as well.
Prices are a bit on the higher side, so this might be a good pick for a special night out.
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but it's the dinner menu that really draws the crowds.

A culinary gem, Baraka Moroccan Cuisine in Portland is a top-rated spot for a delightful menu. The excellent quality, set in a nice atmosphere, will make you a regular.
Baraka Moroccan Cuisine is a solid choice when you're in the mood for unique international cuisine, and want to break away from the typical Chinese/Mexican/Italian fare.

Groupon Guide

“Hookah is very meditative," someone once told me, speaking to its tradition in the Middle East. At lounges overseas, people while away long hours around the hookah, just hanging out. Kids might even stop by—not to smoke, but to grab an ice cream or a snack. Because, like American coffee shops or Irish pubs, in the places where hookah was born, hookah lounges are woven into the fabric of everyday life.Ryan Khalil, owner of House of Hookah in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, echoed this relaxed attitude. “Hookah gives people a cool way to hang out with their friends and chill, without the whole rah-rah-rah of the club environment,” he said. But for those unfamiliar with the process of smoking the aromatic tobacco, it’s hard to be chilled-out on your first session.Ryan gave us nine tips on how to smoke hookah properly, even if you’ve never tried it before. 1. Eat first.Ryan says the smoke shouldn’t affect your taste buds, but it can squash your appetite. Grab a bite before your smoking session.2. Know what you're smoking.Above: varieties of shisha.Shisha, the stuff that provides the smoke, can be made from herbs or chopped up fruit, but many believe this to be inferior to traditional blends made from tobacco. At some lounges, including House of Hookah, tobacco is infused with all-natural food-grade fruit flavoring.3. Let the pros handle the equipment.Especially if it’s your first time! Packing and lighting the bowl is the purview of the lounge staff, so let them to take charge. If you think the coals need to be moved around or a fresh bowl of shisha packed, notify the staff.4. Ask for your own mouthpiece.In the US, hookah lounges are required to provide a disposable mouthpiece to each customer. Ryan said to slip on your mouthpiece when it’s your turn, then slip it off before you pass the hose to the next person in your circle. 5. Do not smoke at the same time as someone else.If the hookah has more than one hose, never pull from it at the same time as someone else. This will make the coals burn too hot, and neither person will get a satisfying pull.6. Don't bogart the hose.It’s OK to take a few pulls when it’s your turn, perhaps two or three. But “take too many consecutive pulls, and you risk burning the tobacco a lot faster,” Ryan said. Even here in the US, “you’re meant to enjoy hookah pretty slowly and casually, not really rushing it at all.” 7. Try different flavors—and different bowls.As far as flavors go, Ryan finds that double apple is by far the most popular, though any lounge will have several to choose from. Just make sure you choose one you like the smell of: the smoke will linger in your clothes.House of Hookah also encourages customers to try another popular variation: smoking from a bowl made of hollowed-out fruit, such as a pineapple, pomegranate, or orange. “It makes the hookah last longer and gives it more smoke and flavor.” (Pro tip: If the staff doesn’t change the hose between flavors, ask them to—the hose will hold flavor from the previous bowl.)8. Keep sessions to about an hour.While a bowl of shisha could burn for up to three hours, Ryan recommends refreshing it every 60–90 minutes. “It’ll start tasting like burnt tobacco ... just not quite as fresh.”9. Finally, just chill out.Frequent hookah smokers might not experience this, but newbies should be prepared to catch what Ryan calls a “relax-y” buzz. “Nothing intoxicating,” he said, “but you might feel a little mellowed out.”Photos by Andrew Nawrocki, Groupon

When it comes to African cuisine, most Americans possess a knowledge that’s limited to the menu at their local Ethiopian restaurant. As Africa’s second most populated country, Ethiopia has a huge diaspora, which helps explain why there are far more Ethiopian restaurants in North America than, say, Kenyan or Malawian. But Ethiopian cuisine represents only a small piece of the diverse African culinary landscape.
“African cuisine is such a huge topic,” said Freda Muyambo, who founded the African-food blog My Burnt Orange in 2011. “Every country—and there’s over 54 countries in Africa—every country has a different type of cuisine.” At least some of those cuisines might soon become more familiar to Western diners. When asked if she thought African food might be an emerging trend, Muyambo acknowledged that she has noticed a growing curiosity about African food in the last few years. “I think it is the next big thing,” she said.Below, we’ve highlighted nine distinct dishes from different regions of Africa to help expand your knowledge beyond injera.
Bobotie“Bobotie [is] recognized as a national dish in South Africa; there’s nothing like it,” Muyambo said. Fusing together Dutch, Indian, Malay, and African influences, among others, the unique comfort food consists of turmeric- and curry-spiced minced meat that is baked with an egg-based topping and typically served with rice, sambal, and chutneys.Photo courtesy of Jon Mountjoy, Flickr, under CC BY 2.0N’doléPhoto courtesy of PRA under CC BY 3.0N’dolé is both the name of this spicy stew and of the indigenous bitter leaf that gives it flavor. Typically made with nuts and seafood or meat, it is considered Cameroon’s national dish and is also popular in Gabon. Another key ingredient: chili peppers, which were introduced to the area via the 16th-century slave trade and remain popular. Jollof rice
“In West Africa, jollof rice is anybody’s favorite,” Muyambo said. Lohi’s Creations, a Nigerian food blog, and Betumi Blog, which focuses on Ghanaian cuisine, both provide several versions of the popular dish. Typically featuring rice that is cooked in a tomato sauce seasoned with onions and hot peppers, among other spices, it can also incorporate other meats and vegetables. Some versions even include nutmeg.Photo courtesy of Segun Famisa under CC BY-SA 4.0UgaliPhoto courtesy of Paresh Jai under CC BY 2.0Starch-based porridges are common in East Africa. However, ugali—a stiff, slightly salty porridge made from cornmeal, cassava, millet, or sorghum—is generally considered the region’s most popular dish. It accompanies nearly every meal and may be served with sukuma wiki, which can refer to a vegetable similar to kale or a dish that cooks said veggie with tomatoes and onions. Taste of Tanzania, which was among the blogs Muyambo recommended, offers an ugali recipe.Baasto iyo sugo hilib shiidanMany Italian foods, such as pasta and pizza, are popular in the Horn of Africa, the result of roughly 100 years of Italian colonial influence. The Somali Kitchen, one of Muyambo’s blog recommendations, provides additional insight into Somalian cuisine and offers recipes for dishes such as baasto iyo sugo hilib shiidan, which is nearly identical to spaghetti bolognese, except that the pasta sauce includes coriander.Photo courtesy of dbgg1979, Flickr, under CC BY 2.0
TagineOne of the most popular dishes in North Africa, tagine also combines several ingredients that characterize the region’s cuisine. Made in a clay cooking vessel of the same name, the stew consists of slow-cooked meat (such as merguez, a spicy lamb sausage), vegetables, and fruits. Some variations incorporate harissa, a condiment generally made with hot chili peppers, garlic, olive oil, and spices.Photo courtesy of The Marmot, Flickr, under CC BY 2.0
CurryPhoto courtesy of Alpha, Flickr, under CC BY-SA 2.0
South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation because of its diversity, which is reflected in its cuisine. For example, the country has a large Indian population. “Hands down, I feel like the best curries in the world come from South Africa,” said Muyambo, whose blog provides readers with numerous curry recipes, including this coconut-curry one. However, East Africa’s cuisine has also been strongly affected by India and includes curries, samosas, chutneys, and chapati—an unleavened flatbread with Indian origins.SeswaaPotjie (one-pot stews cooked over an open flame) are popular in southern African cuisine. One of Muyambo’s favorite meals, seswaa, is a prime example. “It looks exactly like a pulled-pork or pulled-beef dish, where you slow-cook the meat and then you just shred it,” she said. The blogger grew up in Botswana, where seswaa is a commonly eaten on independence day and at weddings.
Photo courtesy of trenttsd, Flickr, under CC BY 2.0AkaraIn West Africa, black-eyed peas are commonly used in many dishes, including one referred to as acarajé or akara, wherein the legumes are deep-fried in palm oil. Akara may be served alongside a sticky, okra-based stew—like Gambia’s superkanja and Guinea’s maffi gumbo—and fufu, the food most closely associated with West Africa. The starchy paste is made from root vegetables, such as yams, cocoyams, or cassava. Because it has very little taste on its own, fufu is served with rich sauces and stews.Photo courtesy of Freda Muyambo, My Burnt OrangeTake a tour of the cuisine of other countries:What Makes Malaysian Food So MalaysianDiving into Dim Sum